Re: Why wasn't there ever a VHS based consumer audio format?

...I will try with a generic modem to transmit a 50kbps audio file and record it on a tape and then I will try to reverse the mechanism to see if the data are stored well enough to be decoded properly. If that succeeds then I bet I'm into something.

The squawking you hear when modems connect is them testing the line and agreeing between themselves on equalisation and modulation settings. They can't do that with tape record / replay. Modulation schemes for tape necessarily differ from "line" schemes.

Re: Why wasn't there ever a VHS based consumer audio format?

I used VHS Hi-Fi stereo analogue for audio recording from 1991 to 2000. It was better than anything else I had available.

As well as the problems noted earlier in the thread, you tend to get clicks in the audio corresponding to single line drop-outs on the screen (which VHS "HQ" machines routinely mask on the video, but they can still be audible on the audio). This was true when the tapes were new, but was better with better tape formulations.

Bass-light music tended to reveal the head switching rumble.

Today I have some audio recordings which only exist on VHS and regular cassette. The VHS has better frequency response, subjectively better dynamic range, lower wow+flutter, a longer uninterrupted play time, and no Dolby alignment errors. It has clicks (easily removed today), occasionally longer drop outs (catastrophic) and for some recordings the constant background rumble/flutter is objectionable (and I can't figure a way to remove it - it's already tracking optimally on the original deck which still works well). Basically VHS wins (and you can't say that very often ).

Re: Why wasn't there ever a VHS based consumer audio format?

I remember a work colleague from years ago who had set his VHS up for recording from the radio. The longer running time than a compact cassette and the ability to set a timed recording was his reason, as he liked radio dramas, which were often 1.longer than could fit on one side of an audio cassette and 2.usually broadcast during the afternoon, when he was at work. He had built up quite a big collection, both in the number of recordings and the space all those VHS tapes took up.

Re: Why wasn't there ever a VHS based consumer audio format?

I Work at a community radio stationand we recorded everything that went out on air on VHS tapesbetween 1995 & 2006-7. We were using 2 to 3 VHS tapes a dayWe now trying to make digital copies of every single VHS tape.Which is a real Pain.

Re: Why wasn't there ever a VHS based consumer audio format?

I worked at a video production studio in 2005, and it was my job to take care of equipment, clean recorders, refurbish tapes and do small repairs, and also maintain the library, which was mainly DV, DVCPRO and MiniDV tapes, but also quite a few BetaMax and BetaCam (most of which were were BetaMax SP) tapes, and also maintain the digital library, as well as making backups, etc.The library was pretty much kept as it was, with old tapes not digitized/copied to solid state unless needed.

Whenever old stock footage was needed the tape in question was either digitized in case of BetaMax, or streamed to solid state in case of DV, DVCPRO or MiniDV and then the tape was removed from the library and put into bulk storage. Digitizing or copying everything onto solid state storage entirely was too much of an undertaking. Backup of the digital files was done through a professional backup solution which also included LTO tapes (slightly ironically). However this was done only for backup purposes, the files were kept on a NAS for easy access to the producers. When I left the company, there were still around 300 Beta* tapes which haven't been digitized, mostly test footage, sometimes copies from cameras that used a different tape format in the late 80's. Most of them were BetaCam SP; the digital variant of BetaCam, "BetaCam SX" was never used (there were none present when I was working there, anyway).

The studio got rid of their old equipment as they went on. I still have a BetaCam SX recorder, I have no use for it. It sits in storage to eventually fetch a nice price on Ebay or wherever to a collector. They kept one of each older VTRs so they can read the occasional older tape, but most of them were removed from the racks. They were put into a small 19" rack on rollers and called "Life-support trolley".

In the bulk storage room, the tapes which weren't used anymore were stored. I don't know if they ever throw them out or not. I could take some BetaCam SP tapes with me, so I can play around with the machine I have, but I think as long as the room still isn't filled up to the ceiling, the tapes will stay with the studio. They stored their old equipment in there, too. Old cameras, but also old VTRs, including a VHS recorder or two. When I left the company, the room was quite filled, but still not filled up to the brim, they occasionally added new shelves by making the aisles narrower.

Audio was recorded on a reel-to-reel and later on DAT, if it wasn't recorded onto the same tape in a camera or such. Later they recorded everything using digital solid state recorders, as was the case when I worked there. The high fidelity of Hi-Fi VHS audio recording was common knowledge to the producers and editors, but they never used it professionally. Then again, it being a video production studio, they didn't really concern themselves with much audio engineering as such. Given they were not broadcasting live, I guess things like easy of playback wasn't that much of an issue anyway. Output formats where whatever the customer required, but it was always a combined AV format (no audio on a separate medium). Since the output format was pretty much always of lesser quality than whatever has been originally recorded as, it didn't matter too much. Media brought in by customers was transferred to a superior format of the time, and the original never used again. The copies used for working were then archived (which was where I ended managing them, many years layer).

At this point I'd like to end my tangent. I guess you could say I came in contact with professional video equipment, people in that industry knew very well about the high fidelity audio capability of VHS, but they never seem to have really cared. At least in this part of the world.